


A Little Jealousy

by Spacecadet72



Series: If You're Not the One [9]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Marriage of Convenience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 22:18:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14388261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacecadet72/pseuds/Spacecadet72
Summary: Chat visits Marinette to find Nathaniel over, and discovers some things about his feelings.





	A Little Jealousy

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off a prompt from lil_fangirl27. 
> 
> Title comes from the song Jealousy by Monsta X. 
> 
> This is set somewhere between Wrapped in Cotton Wool and Wrung the Heart. 
> 
> And next time we'll have the resolution/reveal following You Don't Know My Heart. :D

Marinette was beaming when Chat stepped into her living room.

“You look happy, did something happen?” he asked, his own smile widening at Marinette’s obvious happiness.

She nodded, looking like she was about to burst. “I've been accepted into that fashion art show I was telling you about. ”

“That's amazing, Marinette! I knew they'd want you,” he said leaning down to pull her into a hug.

She hugged him back tightly, her body fitting perfectly against his. The hug lasted a beat longer than a congratulatory hug should and he pulled back with reluctance.

“Thank you,” she said still beaming widely and going to sit in the couch. “I’ll be making three pieces for the show and the theme is fairy tales which I'm so excited about.”

“Do you have designs already in mind? I’d love to see them,” Chat said sitting next to her.

Marinette grabbed a sketchbook from the end table, and began flipping through it. “Here,” she said, handing it to him open to a particular page. “This is what I’m thinking so far.”

He took the book from her and looked over the designs. It was clearly still early stages in her planning, but the designs were beautiful and evoked just the right feeling for the fairy tale theme while still be original. “These are amazing, I can’t wait to see the finished project.”

Marinette’s smile grew even wider, she was almost glowing with how excited and happy she was. He was so glad he had stopped by tonight, that he was able to see her like this. His brilliant, creative wife.

She leaned over to explain some of her sketches, but he found it difficult to keep his eyes off of her.

* * *

 

Chat found himself outside of Marinette’s building a few days later, exhausted and needing to visit a friend.

His father had called, for their regular ‘I-don’t-approve-of-your-life-choices’ conversation, and he wasn’t sure why he even picked up anymore, why he even engaged when nothing he did was ever enough for his father. But he did, and the conversation had left him feeling low and questioning everything.

It was nearing midterms in his classes and the students were frenzied, trying to learn and memorize the material. He could feel their manic energy in class and during his office hours and it rubbed off on him, furthering his bad mood.

He couldn’t tell Marinette these things, at least not in anything more than vague terms, but he needed her smiles and her hugs and possibly baked goods. Really, he just needed her and everything would be better.

As he shot out his baton to take him to her window--his window--he heard laughter and realized she wasn’t alone.

When he looked through the window, he saw Nathaniel, their old classmate sitting next to Marinette on the couch, each with open sketchbooks in their laps. They were almost finishing each other’s sentences as they spoke quickly, one or the other sketching something before the process started again.

Chat turned to leave not wanting to disturb them, and not wanting to examine the sharp, hot feeling that went through him as he watched the two together.

At that moment, Marinette looked up and saw him.

“Chat,” she said with a smile, and he had no other choice but to step through the window, his escape plan gone. “This is my friend Nathaniel, he’s an artist and offered to help me with my designs for the show.”

Chat took the hand that Nathaniel offered and shook it, holding a fraction more tightly than was necessary before letting go. “It’s nice to meet a friend of Marinette’s.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Chat Noir,” Nathaniel said, with a smile. “I already had a high opinion of you, but if you managed to catch Marinette’s eye, I know you must be a great guy.”

Chat smiled at that. Even if it was all a ruse, she had married him, hadn’t she?

“Are you in fashion also?” Chat asked as he sat in one of the chairs next to the couch and the one closest to Marinette.

Nathaniel shook his head. “I do more traditional art, but when I ran into Marinette today, she told me about the show and I offered to take a look. Sometimes having a second pair of eyes on a project helps. Not that Marinette needs any help,” he said, turning to share a smile with her.

Chat’s grip on the arms of the chair tightened. “She is brilliant,” he said, looking only at Marinette, feeling like he needed to stake a claim somehow.. “I was taken away when she showed me her sketches. Aren’t they just amazing?”

Nathaniel nodded. He opened his mouth to speak, when his phone rang. He looked down at the screen and his lips twisted in a grimace. “I have to take this, excuse me,” he said before walking away.

“Are you okay?” Marinette asked, setting her sketchbook aside.

Chat nodded, his smile tight. “I’m fine, Princess.”

This seemed to only increase Marinette’s concern. “You don't seem yourself tonight. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

He sighed, feeling guilty for letting his bad mood from earlier make her worried. “It’s nothing, I just had a bad day, but I’m fine.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, leaning closer. “Nath won’t be here much longer, and we can talk after that.”

Chat shook his head, not wanting to spend anymore time watching the two of them together, or hearing her call him ‘Nath.’ “I’ll be fine, Princess,” trying to make his smile seem more genuine. “I should go anyway. I’ll see you later,”

“See you later,” Marinette said, not looking convinced.

Without another word, he was out the window and gone, a bitter taste in his mouth, knowing that Nathaniel was still in her apartment.

* * *

 

The day of the show came quickly, and Marinette was a ball of nerves right up until the event. Chat had offered to come later to the show, not wanting to take any attention away from her or her creations.

As he stepped into the art museum, the place was already abuzz with activity, and full of so many famous faces, that his was just another in the crowd. He could see the press taking pictures of him as he walked towards Marinette’s pieces, but he ignored them, used to the cameras.

He had seen bits and pieces of the outfits as Marinette brought some of her work home, but seeing them in person took his breath away. They were even more perfect than he had imagined looking at her sketches or a piece of fabric as she worked on the embellishments. She really was brilliant and he was so happy to see others recognize that about her.

He turned to find her in the room, wanting to add his congratulations to the ones she had already undoubtedly received. He found her across the room, standing next to Nathaniel. They were grinning at each other, and then she laughed at something he had said.

His grin slid off his face as he watched them. He knew they were just friends, knew he had no claim on her, but an ugly feeling twisted inside of him as he watched Marinette and Nathaniel together.

He couldn’t blame his father or his students or a bad mood for this feeling. Was he jealous? Why would he be jealous of Nathaniel? Nathaniel was a great guy, but Chat didn’t want what he had. Until he looked at Marinette grinning up at Nathaniel before pulling him into a hug, and that same tight, hot feeling returned. Was he jealous because of Marinette?

Was he in love with Marinette?

Oh, shit.

 


End file.
